The News Line: FeatureSaturday, 2 February 2019‘Venezuelan people will triumph over US’ – SAYS SYRIA

Syrian youth on a demonstration in support of President Assad – Syria supports the government of President Maduro in Venezuela

SYRIA’S Ambassador to Lebanon, Ali AbdulKarim, has affirmed that the Venezuelan people will ‘triumph’ over the US conspiracy.

Meeting the Venezuelan Ambassador to Lebanon, Jesus Gregorio Gonzalez, at the headquarters of the Venezuelan Embassy, Ambassador AbdulKarim indicated that the foreign pressures and using force will not succeed in toppling the legitimacy and the state in Venezuela. He asserted that today Venezuela’s friends are standing by it and supporting its legitimate rights.

‘We highly appreciate the Venezuelan people and legitimate authority standing by Syria in its war against terrorism,’ AbdulKarim said. For his part, Gonzalez said that there are states which seek to impose control over the resources and wealth of the Venezuelan people through spreading lies about the situation in Venezuela.

He added that the Syrian people are friendly and loyal to the Venezuelan people, hailing the Syrians’ steadfastness in the face of the terrorist war waged against them. He expressed thanks to the Syrian people and leadership for their standing by Venezuela in the face of the US-European conspiracy.

In New York, meanwhile, Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Dr Bashar al-Jaafari said on Wednesday that Syria, since the beginning of the terrorist war imposed on the country, had spared no effort to fulfil its duty in meeting the humanitarian requirements of Syrians who have suffered from this war.

Al-Jaafari, in a speech at a UN Security Council session on the situation in Syria, added that the Syrian government is ready to boost cooperation with the UN, and member states of good intention, to improve the humanitarian situation and provide suitable conditions for the return of the refugees.

‘UNSC resolutions, meetings and reports will remain incapable of contributing to alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people if the reasons behind this suffering are not treated, mainly the presence of terrorism in the country,’ al-Jaafari said.

Al-Jaafari expressed Syria’s satisfaction over the ‘positive meetings and continuous frank dialogues with UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock and many others, whether in Damascus or in New York,’ and that ‘we hope to form a good ground to achieve tangible progress during the current year in the humanitarian and developmental work away from political pressures.’

He added that the UN, particularly members of the Security Council, should adhere to principles of the humanitarian task, mainly to be neutral, not to politicise and to cooperate with the Syrian government as it is the basic partner which is concerned in meeting the needs of the Syrians.

‘Syria is surprised that UN reports about the humanitarian situation are based on incorrect and suspicious information coming from the so-called open sources, or from Arab and western media which are hostile to Syria,’ al-Jaafari affirmed. He went on to say that ‘the White Helmets’ organisation had made many fabrications, by instructions from Western intelligence, about alleged use of chemical substances in Syria, so some UNSC permanent members launch aggressions on Syria.

‘To end the suffering of the Syrians, this requires committing to the respect for Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and refraining from marketing the so-called “work through borders” and through offices of hostile agendas which practise their missions in neighbouring countries,’ al-Jaafari added.

He stressed that it is important to cooperate with the Syrian government in combatting the remnants of terrorist organisations, calling for the states which support them to stop that. As for the foreign troops, al-Jaafari called for ending the illegitimate presence of the US, French, Turkish and British foreign troops on Syrian territory, saying that these troops are supporting terrorism and obstructing the humanitarian work.

He affirmed that the unilateral, coercive measures imposed on the Syrian people represent economic terrorism that greatly affected life for Syrians and hindered the delivery of their daily basic needs. ‘Syria is ready to cooperate with the UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen in order to reach a political solution to the crisis that leads to the elimination of terrorism and ends the foreign illegitimate presence on its territory,’ al-Jaafari concluded.

• Meanwhile, army units operating in Hama northern countryside have carried out intensive operations against the positions and infiltration axes of terrorist groups towards military posts and safe villages in a new breach of the de-escalation zone agreement in Idlib.

Army units conducted bombardments on the positions of terrorist groups which had infiltrated from the outskirts of al-Madiq Castle town in the northern countryside of al-Sqailbieh towards military posts. The intense bombardment foiled the infiltration attempt by terrorists, inflicting heavy losses upon their personnel and destroying their ammunition and weapons.

In Mharda northern countryside, terrorist groups opened fire from machineguns from the direction of al-Jissat town on military posts, as the army units positioned in the area retaliated against them with scores of terrorists killed and others injured and their fortified positions destroyed.

Army units conducted concentrated strikes against hotbeds of ‘al-Ezza Brigades’ terrorists on the outskirts of al-Arbain village in Mharda northern countryside in retaliation to their attempt to infiltrate towards liberated areas, killing scores of terrorists.

In Idlib southern countryside, army units destroyed a position of Jabhat al-Nusra leaders on the outskirts of al-Habit town, killing and injuring many terrorists on Wednesday. Authorities have uncovered weapons and ammo, some of which are Israeli and Western-made machine guns left behind by terrorists in the Eastern Ghouta area in Damascus Countryside.

On Wednesday a warehouse was found, including 14.5mm and 23mm machine-guns and Israeli-made machine-guns, RPGs, various types of sniper rifles, and a large amount of various types of ammunition during combing operations.